Q: 2. Does anyone have some general advice on making posing easier? Little known tricks, alternate methods, etc. Short of using a motion capture suit, which I don't have and can't afford.

A: Yes, ask a good friend to help you. Get him or her to stand behind you with a cricket bat. Instruct the friend that every time you touch the Translate/Pull tool, or the Translate In/Out tool, they are to hit you over the head with the bat. If your friend seems reluctant to do this, bribe him or her with offers of free beer or sex, which ever seems the most appropriate. After a few ten's of hours of this treatment a thought will start to dawn in your consciousness  "NEVER TOUCH THE TRANSLATE TOOL". It is said that the blessed Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama the Sammasambuddha, had such a moment sitting under a fig tree (though it is lost to history which Poser version he was using).

To put it another way, my advice is; don't use the T/P or I/O tools to pose a figure. Only use the Rotate or Twist tool, or the dials. Forget about the Chain Break mentioned in my last post. The Rotate and Twist tools only act on the selected part of the figure, they give you better and more accurate control. If you only use the Rotate and Twist tools, you will never need the Chain Break. Any way, that's my five cents worth (inflation!).